$25M Project to Transform Covington City Hall into Hotel Convington

Milwaukee-based Aparium Hotel has recently formed a partnership with the Salyers Group and the city of Covington to develop and manage The Hotel Covington, a luxury boutique hotel in downtown Covington.

Milwaukee-based Aparium Hotel has recently formed a partnership with the Salyers Group and the city of Covington to develop and manage The Hotel Covington, a luxury boutique hotel in downtown Covington. The new hotel will be the first of its genre in the market.

The project will cost $25 million and represents the rehabilitation of the seven-story city hall building at 638 Madison Ave. It was built in 1910 and for its first 67 years housed Coppin’s Department Store. It was also the first concrete skyscraper in Kentucky. In 1984, the city acquired the building for $1.5 million and renovated it.

The 102-year-old building will now be transformed into a modern, luxury hotel with 107 rooms designed to accommodate the business traveler, with a full-service restaurant and bar. The entire first floor will be dedicated to dining, meetings and lounge space. The Hotel Covington will be designed to reflect the city’s rich culture and history. Officials expect the project to be completed by mid-2014.

The city of Covington will donate the building to the project, thus becoming an equity partner in the hotel. It will have to move its offices to another downtown location, but a final decision on the relocation site has not yet been made.

The project is expected to create approximately 125 jobs. It will be funded with the use of new market tax credits, historic state and federal tax credits, traditional bank financing and investment from Salyers Group and Aparium. The Hotel Covington is the first project of the Catalytic Development Fund, a Northern Kentucky, private sector, not-for-profit organization that provides funding assistance and related services for developers of quality residential and commercial real estate projects in Northern Kentucky’s urban cities.

The new hotel is expected to boost the economy of downtown Covington and spur additional development. Mario Tricoci, CEO of the Aparium Hotel Group, said ,“The Hotel Covington is destined to be a place where friends gather and travelers find a sophisticated but approachable property – a truly Translocal environment.”